Oh! The non-contract price is too high...is the price $99/$199 with the subscription contract formally announced? I heard this news today from somebody (in India) who was watching the television and thought that Apple was brining low cost phones for the emerging markets (but did not really think that it would be available @ $99)....disappointed!! :( True, China is the only reason.

Yes Apple, Samsung, HTC and Sony will not be able to pitch the consumer demand and market in India and China as they are having a very high margins, a company like MicroMax is tending to beat Samsung with having 22% of Market Share as compared to 27% of Samsung in the last month sales figures. This is because of too much competitive prices offered by MicroMax. Also I think the production capacities of the giants is at their extents and as a result of that they are less willing to reduce the prices and increase sale.

Thanks for the link, Caleb. But of course, Apple still needs to "secure" an agreement with China Mobile. That was not announced at the press conference in Beijing, either. I suspect the sticking point between the point is how much of subsidies the operator [and manufacturer] are willing to cover.

The news also published in India stating iPhone at 100$, but it is with contract price in US and in India no telecom service provider has shown interest for iPhone 5c with contract. So one can not compare it with less prices Android Phone.

Non contract price for iphone 5C is 549US$ for 16GB and 649$ for 32GB. I feel this may be quite high for china market. I thought they are planning to hit <400$ price point, which would have been attractive.

At the time when I am writing this on the messageboard, we still don't know whether Apple already has an agreement with China Mobile. I suspect it has secured that deal. A bigger question, however, if the new iPhone 5C for China includes TD-LTE support. Stay tuned.